The beach

A few weeks ago I posted about our trip to the beach, but I didn't put up any pictures. (Sorry Grandma!) Here are a few we got. Aunt Charlotte needs to send me the rest...hint hint.

Seeing the ocean for the first time

She decided it was ok and plopped right down

Chasing the birds

Vacation

We are finally home from our fabulous vacation at Destin, FL. We were able to spend the whole week with Grammy, Papa, and aunt Charlotte. There's nothing better than relaxing on the beach, swimming in the ocean and the pool, and letting Grammy and Papa watch Jacey! :)

Jacey wasn't scared of the ocean much at all. I was really surprised because I remember being terrified. She loved being able to make a mess!

We've decided the best way to explain this week was in a top 9 most funny moments list. Here goes:

9. 5 adults, 1 child, and 2 dogs in a camper for a week. I think that's pretty funny in itself.

8. SPF 4 really DOESN'T offer much protection for white skin. Ask Charlotte about that sometime.

7. Jacey was proudly carrying a bucket of water back from the ocean when she tripped and face planted in the sand. Probably not as funny for her, but we thought it was precious and hilarious. Especially since her face was half covered in sand.

6. We generally left the screen door open during the day. Both dogs at different times didn't realize it was closed and tried to jump inside. Lexie, my sister's dog, ended up doing a back flip in the process.

5. Mitch was relaxing in a beach chair when it completely collapsed. Unfortunately no one was there to witness it.

4. Mitch also had a close encounter of the crab kind. He was out jumping waves when he was pinched by a crab. Apparently the crab hung on for a quick ride before letting go.

3. On the camper there is a LP alarm, which goes off to let you know there is a propane leak. The first two nights it waited to go off until we were all asleep. The funny part was listening to it beep, then hearing my dad smack it. This happened repeatedly. He did finally figure out how to unplug it.

2. One day my dad was napping. Jacey walked up to him, grabbed his can of coke, said, "Milk!" and proceeded to pour it all over him.

1. Eglin Air Force base is right next to Destin/Ft.Walton beach, where we stayed. Charlotte drove in very late Friday night. She misunderstood part of the directions Mom gave her and turned towards one of the gates. (To get to Destion you have to go over a toll bridge.) In her hand was a $5 bill, and on her face must have been utter confusion. Two guards saw her and probably had the biggest laugh of their year. They did eventually tell her how to get back to the correct road. Ask her to tell this story as well. Fanawesome. :)

Kitchen Table

So God granted us the opportunity to purchase new furniture...a table. Our old kitchen table was bought pre-marriage at the Salvation Army and then painted to be pretty. For the two of us it was ok, but it's gotten smaller and smaller recently. Our new one is gorgeous, and big!

Winter

This spring break we again took kids to Wolf Creek, Colorado to ski for a couple of days. I actually made it this year (no blizzards or knee injuries)! Jacey and I enjoyed experiencing the snow and hanging out in the lodge. She really didn't take good naps, so on the last evening she crashed...hard. Mitch and the kids (and the sponsors) had a good time skiing. Overall the trip went very smoothly.

For most of February and March we've had beautiful, warm spring weather. Today we got a blizzard just to mix things up! It's been very pretty, but very very cold. I've been wanting to go out and play but it's 21 degrees and feels like 7. As Jacey would say, "Brrr!!"

At Wolf Creek in our cute ski gear

Sliding down the mountain

Jacey, exhausted, sleeping on me before dinner

Jacey wanted to go "nigh night" with her baby under the blanket

Looking at the fire Dad built

Our Spring blizzard

My surprise flowers

18 Months

I know, it's been an incredibly long time since posting. The 7000 miles of traveling to Nashville, Branson, and Colorado Springs took it's toll. We're finally back enjoying the quiet peace before pre-summer events start.

Jacey is officially 18 months old today. It's so amazing how fast she's grown up already. She has her daddy's social skills, and is trying to say everything we say. The most popular words of the moment are "no," "ah duh" (all done/gone), "book," and "mae-mei" (baby). I love being able to communicate with her and know some of the things she wants/needs. She loves going to the park, where she gets to play on the bouncy ducks, climb on everything, and go down the slides. We knew early on that she was a climber, and it's evident now. She has no fear. I'm almost able to let her run free at the kiddie playground - since she's getting so good and the slides. (I still have the image of her going over head-first.) She also loves Sesame Street, in particular Elmo. Today she dancing for joy when I turned the tv on and she saw the little guy. She knows his theme song too, and will sing it with him.

Mitch's job is going really well. Neither one of us have any doubts that we are exactly where God wants us to be right now. He was able to baptize 3 of our teens this month following their trip to Winterfest. He also has started and new program where he is able to go one-on-one and challenge a handful of teens to study deeper. I get to go cook on Mondays with the ladies where we feed 100+ teens lunch. It's always a blast, and any of you who have cooked large quantities of food with other women know.

I need to upload our recent pics. Once that's done I'll post pictures for all to see.

An update

So somehow it's already November. Who knew life could move so fast? I love the fall, with it's cooler weather, leaves falling, and a slower paced job. I wasn't sure Mitch's job would ever slow down, but we've had a few weekends here in a row that have been free. Mitch also has the ability to come home early and hang out with the teens on Xbox. He's truly enjoying his job, and I am enjoying being here in Canyon. I've started cooking for Monday lunch, where we feed high schoolers at church, and I'm going to our Ladies class on Wednesday mornings. I'm finding my place outside of just being a YM's wife, and it's been very good for both Mitch and me.

We were able to go to Harding's homecoming this year, which was a blast. We hadn't taken Jacey yet, so it was great to show her off to all of our friends and teachers. She was such a little trooper too. She only fussed about 45 minutes of the 20 hour round-trip drive. Brandon and Joy were awesome hosts. Claira is just adorable.

We had a fun Halloween. Last year at trunk-or-treat Jacey's costume wasn't as warm, and of course it was freezing. So this year, like the good mom that I am, I got her this adorable, warm pig costume. It was basically a sleeper with ears. And it was 80 degrees. Go figure. We all had fun anyway. Halloween night Mitch headed to a Canyon football game while Jacey and I handed out candy. At first she didn't understand why she couldn't have the candy, but eventually enjoyed saying hi to everyone.

Jacey is really growing up fast. She's definitely not a little baby anymore. She started walking more than a month ago, and now is walking and climbing on everything. She's also talking a lot. We haven't moved past single words, but she can say about 20 words and is trying to say more. It's nice to sort of understand what she wants.

Here are some recent pictures for your enjoyment:

It's Thursday

I will have to say that September has been one roller coaster of a month. Thanks to everyone who is keeping my family in your prayers. I know they are working to get us through.

This past weekend Mitch and I were free from any major commitments (who hoo!) and decided to get out the paint we bought for our kitchen and go. We painted all day Friday and Saturday and part of Sunday afternoon. We had to paint over wallpaper in our dining area, which added a lot of time to the process. (I know that is a no-no, but after peeling off one layer and then discovering that second layer was GLUED to the drywall, we decided to stop peeling and start painting.) We got out all of the loosely attached paper, mudded, sanded, primed, and then painted. And after one coat some of the wallpaper decided it really wanted to come down. So Mitch went back and took off all of the bubbles, mudded, sanded, primed, and then painted again. I have to say that all of our hard work paid off. It looks so amazing! For those of you who have never seen our house, we bought it from a sweet old lady who raised her family in this house. And they never updated any of the paint colors, so most of the house had dirty white paint everywhere. By adding some color to the walls (in almost every room now!) this house has come back to life.

Jacey has experience her first sore throat this week. Monday afternoon she woke up from her nap with a 101 degree fever. I decided to wait and see if this was just a 24 hour thing or part of teething, but on Tuesday it went up to 102. The doctor was able to get her in that afternoon and said her throat was red with little blisters. Poor thing. Apparently this virus is going around right now. She's finally starting to feel better, I think, but still has a little bit of the fever. Thank goodness for Motrin and Tylenol.

This weekend is going to be busy but super fun. It's Homecoming here and with that comes a powder-puff football game tonight, high school football game tomorrow, Fair on the Square, parade, and college football on Saturday. I'm hoping Jacey feels good enough by Saturday to really enjoy the crowds at the fair and the parade. I just wish I had enough money to buy everything and the fair! Our downtown square is decked out in booths full of crafts and goodies. It's a lot of fun to see everything and everyone. It's definitely one of the exciting things about living in a small(ish) town.